Dimage A2 - dealing with no light meter

What do you guys with an A2 or similar camera do without an integrated light meter?

Do you use an external one? or do you have good luck with the histogram?

Eeeh, AFAIK, the A2 (and similar camera's) have a build in light meter. How else could could the automatic modes and P/S/A mode work?

I suspect you mean that you do not have a light meter visible in either the EVF or on the rear LCD. If you mean this, the answer is simple: use the live histogram (which in itself is just another, rather detalied representation of the light meter).

I understand what jf1020 means; the A2 has , like almost every other digicam not a real light meter like in a slr.
The "light meter" in the A2 is actually the sensor data.

One problem; the sensor can only see in a range of 5-7 stops so if 60% of the image is EV 12 everything that goes beyond EV 15 or below EV 9 is not considered in the calculation for shutter/aperture, thus the problem of blown highlights or muddy shadows.

The camera is not aware of any data beyond the reach of the sensitivity of the sensor.

Unlike in a slr which has a real light meter which often has a bandwith of over 20 EV and can/will do a multi spot measurement over the whole image in the range of 20 EV or so (usually 0.5 EV to 20.5 EV), your manual can tell you what the range of the light meter is.)

Use a Autometer with the sphere/dome and measure incident light halfway between subject and light source and your 99.9% spot-on.

I just use the live histogram and use the "expose to the right" technique ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposing_to_the_right ) to some extend. I take care to leave a little room to the right of the histogram.

Furthermore, I always shoot RAW (or RAW+JPG) on the A2. The results from a developed RAW picture are much easier to control and have better quality compared to the out-of-camera JPG.

robber576 said:

Use a Autometer with the sphere/dome and measure incident light halfway between subject and light source and your 99.9% spot-on.

Click to expand...

Errr... tell me how that works out in sunshine...[??]

I'm wondering how you get to a point midway between the earth and the sun, in order to take an incident light reading... "halfway between subject and lightsource."

Or am I misunderstanding you, somehow?

FWIW, I take Incident readings a lot of the time; I position the meter at the subject, aimed at the camera.
--
Regards,
Baz

"Ahh... But the thing is, they were not just ORDINARY time travellers!"

I don't think a digital camera exists without a light meter. The only current cameras I know of without a light meter are the cheap disposable film cameras, which are still sold around the place for some reason.
Regards,
Renato

I don't even use the histogram. I look at the EVF which shows what the print will look like (really).
--
http://www.greatphotos.org

Ok so I must be using the wrong term.

It's the meter where you change your aperture, shutter speed and ISO until the meter shows "0." This sets your camera to standard 18% GRAY.

what is it called?

jf1020 said:

Ok so I must be using the wrong term.

It's the meter where you change your aperture, shutter speed and ISO until the meter shows "0." This sets your camera to standard 18% GRAY.

what is it called?

Click to expand...

I don't know what it's called, but you are talking about exposure compensation.
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Shawn

jf1020 said:

Ok so I must be using the wrong term.

It's the meter where you change your aperture, shutter speed and ISO until the meter shows "0." This sets your camera to standard 18% GRAY.

what is it called?

Click to expand...

Hi again,
I stand to be corrected, but that's what I call the light meter.

All digital cameras do that automatically (i.e. set exposure to 18% Gray, which is their zero point on the Exposure Compensation scale). To vary from that zero point one uses Exposure Compensation where typically, as in the A2, one can over or underexpose by up to two EVs in each direction, in 1/3 increments. If one wants to over or underexpose by more than that, then one has to go into full Manual mode (something not all digital cameras can do, but the A2 does).

Is that what you wanted to know, or have we still not addressed the issue that's bugging you?
Cheers,
Renato